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Harding University Athletics

Harding Football
21
#8 Ouachita Baptist OUA 3-1 , 3-1
38
Winner Harding Har 3-1 , 3-1
#8 Ouachita Baptist OUA
3-1 , 3-1
21
Final
38
Harding Har
3-1 , 3-1
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
OUA #8 Ouachita Baptist 7 0 7 7 21
Har Harding 14 10 0 14 38

Game Recap: Football | | Scott Goode (9/25/21)

Harding Dominant in 38-21 Victory over Ouachita

SEARCY – Harding rushed for 409 yards and five touchdowns, held No. 8 Ouachita Baptist to only 242 yards and recovered another onside kick in a 38-21 victory over the Tigers Saturday before an overflow crowd of 5,200 at First Security Stadium. It was the first time in 62 meetings between the schools that Harding rushed for more than 400 yards against Ouachita.

The win for Harding (3-1) extended the Bisons' home winning streak to 10 games. It also snapped Ouachita's 30-game Great American Conference streak and 11-game road winning streak.

Junior slot back Omar Sinclair rushed for a career-high 182 yards and one TD, and senior quarterback Preston Paden scored three times.

After a nine-play, 81-yard scoring drive by the Tigers to open the game, the Bisons controlled the rest of the first half, scoring on four consecutive drives.

Harding went 74 yards on 12 plays on a drive that took more than seven minutes with Paden scoring his first TD on a 1-yard sneak. On the ensuing kickoff, senior kicker Cameron Scott rolled the ball near the Ouachita sideline, and Harding freshman Jhalen Spicer pounced on it for the Bisons' fourth successful onside kick of the season.

Paden's second rushing TD, this one from 4 yards out, ended a five-play, 53-yard drive and gave the Bisons a 14-7 lead.

Harding forced a punt and took command of the game with a 94-yard drive that lasted nine minutes. Senior Cole Chancey scored his seventh TD of the season and 49th of his career with a 1-yard run that gave Harding a 21-7 lead with 5:05 left in the first half.

Sophomore Grant Ennis kicked a 30-yard field goal after Harding recovered a Ouachita fumble to put the Bisons ahead 24-7 at halftime.

Ouachita again scored the first TD of the second half on a 35-yard pass from running back TJ Cole to tight end Hayden Waller.

It was all Bisons after that. Sinclair punctuated an 80-yard drive with a 4-yard TD run with 13:41 left in the fourth, and Paden scored his third TD on a 2-yard run with 6:33 left that gave Harding a 38-14 lead.

Ouachita's Kendel Givens completed the scoring with a 1-yard run with just over two minutes remaining.

Harding entered the game as the D2 leader in time of possession at more than 37 minutes per game. The Bisons were better than that Saturday, holding the ball for 40:14. Ouachita ran only 40 offensive plays, the fourth-fewest ever by a Harding opponent.

Harding has now rushed for more than 300 yards and at least three TD in 12 consecutive GAC games. The Bison defense extended its streak of holding opponents to fewer than 200 rushing yards to 50 games.

Harding's next action is Saturday, Oct. 2 at Oklahoma Baptist in Shawnee. Oklahoma Baptist is 3-1 after defeating Southwestern Oklahoma 31-27 Saturday in Weatherford.


 
Gallery: (9-25-2021) Football vs. Ouachita Baptist

 
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